Legislature(1995 - 1996)
02/14/1996 08:07 AM House RES
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HB 357 - RESIDENCY REQUIREMENT:FISH & GAME LICENSE Number 1163 REPRESENTATIVE OGAN said the HB 357 is a long overdue housekeeping measure in Title 16 that deals with residency licensing privileges: "HB 357 simplifies the enforcement of residency requirements for hunting, trapping, and noncommercial fishing licenses. This legislation will reduce the number of nonresidents who use loopholes in current state residency laws to hunt, trap, and fish Alaska's resources. After meeting and working diligently with the Department of Law, Department of Fish and Game, Department of Public Safety and Legislative Legal Services, this bill was drafted to accommodate all the participants concerns addressed during those discussions. "The definition of residency was separated into subsections for clarification purposes. In these subsection, you will note the different changes that were made to better define the rules of residency for Title 16 purposes. "Also, passage of HB 357 could increase revenue annually by thousands of dollars in relationship to current statistics of nonresidents in terms of licenses, game tags and hunting fees for guides." REPRESENTATIVE OGAN said a major point of HB 357 is replacing the language, "permanent place of abode" to "domicile" which makes it clear that the legislature intended only those who are domiciled in the state are entitled to residency licensing privileges. Number 1286 CO-CHAIRMAN GREEN referred to the domicile language on page 3, line 14 and the language on page 3, lines 25 - 27 concerning military personnel who have been stationed in Alaska. He asked why the language "domicile" did not automatically qualify the military. REPRESENTATIVE OGAN discussed the definition of residency and the definition of domicile with Chairman Green. MAJOR BUELL RUSSEL, Deputy Director, Division of Fish and Wildlife Protection, Department of Public Safety, said he was available for questions and deferred to Captain Grahme. Number 1432 CAPTAIN RICHARD GRAHME, Division of Fish and Wildlife Protection, Department of Public Safety, testified in support of HB 357 stating that the division had worked on the bill over the past several months with Representative Ogan and the departments of law and fish and game. He said the definition of residency is of importance to the department. It has caused problems in the past of prosecuting cases and simply responding to what the state's residency requirements are and what has to be done to meet those requirements. It is not just a matter of enforcement, it is also a matter of providing a service and answers to the public. He said equally important to know is residency privileges of other states. Number 1552 CAPTAIN GRAHME said in Section 16.05.940(c) and Section 16.05.940(26)(d) the branch of United States Coast Guard has been added to the federal definition of military service. Number 1573 REPRESENTATIVE DON LONG referred to page 4, line 3 and asked the difference between one year and 12 consecutive months. REPRESENTATIVE OGAN responded that an individual has to remain in the state for 12 consecutive months. REPRESENTATIVE AUSTERMAN explained that a fisherman might come to Alaska and fish for five months and then return to Bellingham for six months and then return to Alaska again for three months. That fisherman considers himself a resident of the state of Alaska. Number 1663 CO-CHAIRMAN GREEN noted the arrival of Co-Chairman Williams and Representative Irene Nicholia. Number 1710 REPRESENTATIVE OGAN said there is a description in Title 16, the hunting regulations that explains the 12 consecutive months. C0-CHAIRMAN GREEN stated that an individual can be outside the state and travel to and from Alaska as long as domicile is maintained in Alaska. Number 1784 PAUL JOHNSON, Elfin Cove, agreed with the testimony of Major Russel and Captain Grahme. He said, in our small communities in Southeast Alaska, we have a continuing problem with individuals taking advantage of state residency. HB 357 cleans things up and it is enforceable. Number 1831 EDDIE GRASSER, Alaska Outdoor Council, testified in support of HB 357 stating that the bill will close some loopholes and streamline the process on residency requirements. Number 1863 REPRESENTATIVE DAVIES offered an amendment on page 3, line 31. Strike the word "and" and change it to "or." Number 1913 REPRESENTATIVE OGAN said he had no problem with the amendment. Number 1937 CO-CHAIRMAN GREEN stated that the amendment was small but significant. He asked if there were objections to the amendment. Hearing no objection, it was so ordered. Number 1988 REPRESENTATIVE AUSTERMAN moved that HB 357, as amended, move from the House Resources Committee with individual recommendations and attached zero fiscal note. Hearing no objection, CSHB 357(RES) passed from the House Resources Committee.
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